ANDREA MAGUIRE

PAINTINGS

The enigmatic quality of the figural paintings is appropriate in light of Maguire’s meditative approach. During mediation individuals seek to transcend the corporeal level. A meditative artist, then would be expected to do the same. As the body dissolves into forms that read like x-rays or fairy dust, what surfaces is the ‘immense dynamic whole’ to use the artist’s wording. Frenetic gestures obscure the figures and downplay identity as constructed by race, age and gender. Again, Maguire’s images gain a universal quality. Escaping the bodily realm is but one component of meditation. Maguire also pays tribute to rapture, to the ‘intensity of the moment’ at which form and spirit meet. She creates this intensity through colour and composition. The richness of purples, burnt oranges or pitch black assume a power that might be lacking if they were more dispersed or diluted. Dark markings play wonderfully against pastel areas.

Heather Saunders, The Echo